
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday received the first shot of COVID-19 vaccine here and urged people of the state to get themselves inoculated, reaffirming his governments decision to provide the jabs free of cost, including at private facilities.
Kumar received the shot at IGIMS hospital in presence of Health minister Mangal Pandey and appealed to the people that they do not let their guard down in the wake of COVID-19 active cases coming down drastically in the state and continue to practice social distancing and wearing of masks. He also said arrangements have been made at the state-run super specialty hospital for inoculation of all members of the state legislature.
Along with him, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi will also take the Corona vaccine.
Bihar’s Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap even went so far as to say that if Corona vaccine is right, then PM Modi, CM Nitish, Deputy Chief Minister and other senior leaders of the party should show up with Corona vaccine. In such a situation, along with CM Nitish, the Deputy Chief Minister has announced to take the Corona vaccine.
Renu Devi was also a minister in Bihar in the second NDA government in 2010 headed by Nitish Kumar. The combination of Tarkishore Prasad and Devi is an interesting one since the BJP is trying to make larger inroads into the Vaishya and EBC communities. While Prasad is from the Vaishya community, Renu Devi belong to the Nonia caste of the EBCs in Bihar. By making Prasad and Renu Devi as deputy CMs, the BJP would now look to asset itself in these two communities.